Dipyrone inhibits ethanol withdrawal and pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures in rats

The effects of dipyrone, a nonnarcotic analgesic drug, on ethanol withdrawal and pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizures in male Wistar rats were investigated. Ethanol (7.2%) was given to rats by a liquid diet for 21 days. After 6 h of ethanol withdrawal, rats were exposed to an audiogenic stimulus (100 dB) for 60 sec for induction of seizures. Dipyrone (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg ip) and saline were administered to rats 30 min before audiogenic stimulus, and the effects of dipyrone on the seizures induced by audiogenic stimulus were evaluated. The effects of dipyrone on PTZ-induced seizures were also evaluated in other individual groups of the rats. The same doses of dipyrone were injected in the rats ip 30 min before PTZ (50 mg/kg) injections. Immediately after PTZ injections, onset time and severity of the convulsions were recorded. Dipyrone significantly and dose-dependently reduced both incidence and intensity of the ethanol withdrawal-associated audiogenic seizures. It also inhibited significantly and dose-dependently intensity but not onset time of the PTZ-induced seizures. Dipyrone (50-200 mg/kg) did not produce any significant change in locomotor activity in naive rats. Our results suggest that dipyrone has some prominent anticonvulsant activities on both ethanol withdrawal and PTZ-induced seizures in rats, and that using dipyrone may be a new and effective therapeutic approach in the treatment of seizures. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.